COORDINATING COMMITTEE RECORD OF DISCUSSION ON UNITED KINGDOM MEMORANDUM ON INTERPERTATIONS OF ITEM 1587 QUARTZ CRYSTALS 19TH SEPTEMBER, 1960

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP62-00647A000100060001-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 9, 1998
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: September 27, 1960
• Content Type: MIN

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27th September, 1960. COCOM Document 3715.87/2
COORDINATING COMMITTEE
RECORD OF DISCUSSION
ON
UNITED KINGDOM MEMORANDUM ON INTERPRETATION OF ITEM 1587
QUARTZ CRYSTALS
19th September, 1260
Present: Belgium(Luxembourg), Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan,
Netherlands, Norway, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.
Reference: COC0LI Document 3715.87/1.
1. The CHAIRMAN drew the Committeets attention to a United Kingdom
Memorandum concerning the interpretation of Item 1587, and invited delegates to
give views on the problem raised therein.
2+ The GERI+L N Delegate stated that his authorities had studied the
matter with particular interest. They wondered how the question had come to the
notice of the United Kingdom licensing authorities since only radio grade quartz
crystals were under embargo, and licence applications would not normally be sub-
mitted for any other grade of quartz crystal. There was thus no practical pos-
sibility of checking on an item which was not subject to export licensing. Un-
der the present status it was the responsibility of exporters to assure that quart
zes were shipped only when the end-use (optical) was known. The German autho-
rities agreed, however, that the present status of item 1587 was not satisfactory
and would be prepared during the forthcoming List Review, to study sympatheti-
cally any proposals to improve it.
3. The FRENCH Delegate stated that quartz crystals were divided into
three classes in France - radio, optical and Ornamental. Radio grade quartz
were marked "R" which meant that a licence application must be submitted. As
far as optical grade quartz crystals were concerned, they could be exported to
the Soviet Bloc, but bore the mention "authorised for optical quartz only". Any
possibility of fraud could thus ')e avoided.
4. The UNITED STATES Delegate stated that his authorities considered
optical grade quartz to be embargoed under Item 1587, and were thus in agree-
ment with the United Kingdom interpretation. The relevant embargo description
contained in the United States Positive List followed by the letter A was as
follows: "Quartz crystals (natural and synthetic) unprocessed, of optical
quality".
5. The NETHERLANDS Delp ate stated that his Government believed that
according to the spirit of the International Lists optical grade quartz was
covered. The situation was far from clear, however, and the Delegate suggested
that the United Kingdom Delegation might submit a concrete proposal for discus-
sion during the List Review.
6. The BELGIAN Delegate stated that his authorities had no problem
with optical grade quartz. As the United Kingdom Delegation had stated quartz
of superior optical grade was suitable for radio purposes, and it was extremely
difficult to establish a difference between the two grades. The Belgian autho-
rities believed that licences should be granted for quartz crystals of superior
optical grade, if it could be proved that they would not be used for radio pur-
poses. They considered this view to be in keeping with Item 1587 which stipula-
ted "radio grade only" and thus implicitly allowed the export of other grades.
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CONFIDENTIAL - 2 - COCOM Document 3715.87/2
7. The ITALIAN Delegate stated that his -authorities had themselves en-
countered no concrete instances, but felt that the problem should be thoroughly
reviewed in order to avoid misunderstanding.
8. The UNITED KINGDOM Delegate thanked his colleagues for the useful
exchange of views which had just taken place and took note of the request for
a concrete redefinition proposed.
9. The COMMITTEE agreed to rediscuss Item 1587 during the forthcoming
List Review.
C 0 K F I D E N T I A L
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